Riccardo Ulpts

Hey guys, I just arrived in Germany and well what can I say, I like being back but I hate the cold and rainy days. I don’t mind it being cold and sunny at the same time, but I do hate these grey, rainy cold days…

Model Business isn’t as great as it used to be and I guess we can blaim it like everything else on that stupid financial crisis. Oh well… nothing we, the normal people can do about it I guess. 

Anyway, I got one new thing to tell you guys. I have a new Agency in Berlin, it’s SeedsManagement !

On the left you see my current polaroids, hope you like them

Furthermore I just got some news that my latest photos with Sebastien will be published in KULT (http://www.kultmagazine.it/) Magazine Italy in January.

That’s it for now. Take care!

Haha what a funny title that is, well actually it wasn’t as funny as I realized the next day after it was taken… Last Thursday I went to the Soho hotel to meet Sebastien for a fitting and some test shots… 

It was fun and Sebastien is a great guy. Check out his website www.sbastien.com ! He explained that he was gonna do the shoot with Bruce Labruce (www.brucelabruce.com) and another photographer!

Anyway that same night we went out with some friends of his to a place I can’t remember the name of It was a fun night.

The next day I was supposed to get the timetable for the shoot, but there were some problems with the hotel manager and in the end the shoot got canceled Very disappointing… Let’s hope and see what those test photos will be like

Hello guys, it’s great to be in Barcelona. I’m here on a modeling contract with Traffic Models. Season this time is quite slow and gives a bit of time for sightseeing. The one thing that people in Barcelona aways find time for is parties and concerts. There is NO day where there isn’t anything happening in Barcelona.

I love this city, starting from its convenient public transport to its walkable distances to all major places. Myself I live in Barceloneta one of the greates places to be. Many foreigners live here and you will find many clubs, bars and great places to hang out. Not to forget that you have a beach around the corner  What more would you want… This time of the year for sure isn’t the high season but you still find quite a lot people on the beach. One thing that I found annoying is those Asian girls wanting to give you a massage every 5 minutes ur enjoying the sun.

• Here are some places you should definitely visit.First of all walk down Les Rambles and cut into the old city (Barri Gòtic). There you can visit the cathedral and surrounding areas.
• A must see is Parc Güell to see all the Gaudí monuments in the park.
• The Picasso Museum and it’s surrounding area you should definitely give a visit!
• Walk up and down Passeig de Gràcia - easy for me as this is the way from home to my agency You will see wondeful architecture and a lot of shopping from cheap like Mango and Zara to expensive like Dolce Gabbana
• Some incredible buildings you should definitely visit are Casa Milà (also known as “La Pedrera” ), Casa Batlló and Sagrada Familia. These are Gaudí’s masterpieces
• From Sant Sebastia to Barceloneta Beach you can see some beautiful sculptures (That’s where I live)
• Be careful of pickpockets!!!
• …

I can tell you there is loads more to see!!! Even myself I didn’t have the time or didnt make enough time to see all the beautiful places Barcelona has to offer. But maybe I’m a little lazy too laying on the beach or enjoying this nice flair in Barceloneta. Just around the corner where I live are many Bars and Caffees its amazing. You can also find many electronic shops close to the Metro Station Barceloneta . I didn’t buy anything yet neither did I compare the prices but I guess it will be a lot cheaper than anywhere in the city. Its definitely worth a try.

One great tip for getting around fast and easily in Barcelona is by bicycle. There are all over the city and cost about 22 Euro a YEAR! Everyone is using them, but be careful, there is crazy drivers out there, not only by car

The nights are crazy in Barcelona, theres always many people out and it’s very easy to get to know new people everytime you go out. There is also free concerts in Barcelona like the one I went to was a Drum’n'Bass Concert just nearby where I live in Arc de Triomf. Another place I went to is Razzmataz which is a very big club, 5 FLOORS!!! Too big for my taste I like it more familiar and small. The music was good, from Alternative to electro, house dand dance. It’s definitely worth a try if you want to meet a big crowd.

This weekend I went to Shoko near Parc de Olympic. It was already after 2 and Alex (french guy frommy agency) and myself walked to the entry and the host was aksing us if we were on the guestlist. My prompt answer was, well not today, and shes like oh well. Get in haha. Shoko is like a place where you find more ‘classy’ people or people pretending to be this way. Music was not bad, sometimes really good indeed. A shot vodka was 5 euros, double shot 9. Another thing about clubs in Barcelona that isn’t the way I’m used to it in Berlin is that they would shut down at about 4ish to 6ish. But apparently the after hour parties are amazing!!!

This is it for now… puhhh

Damn, I must have slept away this competition. Guys if you wanna help me out, I have 2 days left before the competition ends.

Go to this link and click Vote 4 me at the bottom and submit please:
http://www.vmagazine.com/vmanmodel_viewprofile.php?model=7405

You can also join my facebook group at:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26322464104&ref=mf

And please vote for me, Thanks guys!

Hey guys, now it’s coming to the end the wonderful time I had in Hong Kong, met great people, had a great agency who took care of me and represented me in a great way so I could have a successful time in Hong Kong. My contract was supposed to finish on the after 2 months, now it’s 3 and I extended again for a week What u gonna do

I will miss Hong Kong but also looking forward to see my family after 3 years time. Not to forget my dad’s 50th Birthday! I still have a little time till I leave from Hong Kong to Germany on the 3rd of June… What am I going to do?!?

Not sure yet since I have 2 Options, Japan and Taiwan. I’ve never been Japan yet, but yeah I heared many good things about Tokyo and I would love to be there and spent some time. For sure I will go on a contract for modeling later this year.

Then Taiwan, I love this place as I mentioned previewsly in this blog, people are so nice, organised and clean. I’m really looking forward to see all you guys again in Taiwan, go to Bar Code, Room 18 and Luxy haha

Oh well, lets see what the next days gonna be like, since I still have 8 days contract left

It’s been almost a month since I wrote my last blog entry. Happening was a lot, my babe Jana visited me in Hong Kong and we had such a great time together. We did a lot sightseeing I would have neva done if she didn’t push me haha. We also went to Macau, me for work and her for sightseeing shopping etc etc. Just check out those great photos me and her have done. The Venetian was an amazing Hotel.

I had a job for Rimowa the suit case company from Germany. I didn’t realize this brand is that famous, almost every Hollywood Movie you can see their cases, from ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ to ‘Die Hard 4′ and many others. To tell you the truth it was a great job, we dressed like some Hollywood stars like Maggi Q and Mr. and Mrs. Smith and me as a Pilot… All we had to do was taking photos…. Easy, and the best was that we were allowed to drink any alcoholic drink towards the end of the event. I kinda had a lot to drink haha…

Oscar, Eva, me and the others all went to try some gambling, unfortunately we didn’t have enough cash with us and the ATM’s didn’t work… I tried 3 until they would accept my credit card. By the time we found that ATM we didn’t have much time as the ferry was leaving very soon. So we gambling just a little, we lost more than we won … lol Anyway we had heaps fun.

Apart from that there has been many great jobs and photo shoots as well. To mention just a few like the Hugo Boss shoot, MR Magazin Shoot, Dior Test Shoot and the CK Show… Photos ate still to come…

Another thing that changed is my apartment, since I wasn’t too happy in my old one for reasons like I don’t like smoking in apartments and I rarely got sleep for different reasons…. Now, finally I’m by myself for at least the last 3 weeks till the end of my contract on the 15th of May. Then it will be 3 months that I stayed in Hong Kong!

That’s about it to cut it short

Wow it’s been a pretty busy time in Hong Kong for me. I did a lot of fashion shows / presentations for brands like Dior, YSL, Gucci, Jil Sander, Agnes B and many more. I didn’t even have enough time to go out and party, which isn’t actually a bad thing… The only time I went out was to the LV (Louis Voiton) party. I had a good time with my friends Stinger and Eydie from Hong Kong and Janet Lee, Shiaojair and friends from Taipei… It definitely brought back memories about the time in Taiwan which I miss sooooo much.

I decided then with Eastern coming very soon to take a break from work and go to Taipei to see some friends. We Janet, Cammier, Michelle, Vivianna and friends went out to Bar Code and Room18, the usual thing I had a great time… loads of old and new faces.

Other than that I was really looking forward to meet Boris again which I missed a lot. Just want to tell you that ur a great guy… stay as you are…. glad things are seemingly becoming better.

I also want to thank you Mettea and your sister for having such a great evening and going to the movies watching “The Eye”. I was so happy and surprised to see you guys I totally forgot that I had my camera with me to do some nice pictures… Next time I will, promiss. Oh and thanks for bringing back my phone… hope that didn’t cause too much trouble

It’s only one day left and tomorrow I will hopefully meet up with everyone who was either too busy or not in town

What can I say, at the Airport I got picked up from a guy who couldn’t speak english at all. The only word he could say was “Sign here” for the bill he could give my agency that I got picked up and he gets his money.

I got my hotel that night and well it is ok. Its clean! I got a double bed and TV and shower and so. But I’m alone …. I’m used to getting an apartment with people to hang around with. But my agent said the girls would live in an apartment and guys in hotels, apparently because it would cause trouble between girls and guys and most of them are underage…

Well so I got myself a map and went to the see 101 Tower the next day. Metro is easy and convenient. About 20 minutes it took me from my hotel to the 101. From the metro you can take a free Shuttle Bus to the 101 Tower/Mall. Very nice service!

As soon as I arrivedI recognized a fair on the other side of the street. It was the International Coffee and Food Fair in Taipei. Entry was 100 Taiwan Dollar. Looking for my wallet some staff member came and told me it was free for foreigners on weekends, great!

It was nice and you could try heaps of stuff. I got myself some Vital Balance Biscuits, Napolitaner wafes and Ritter Sport Chocolate (Good old german chocolte )

Later then I went to the 101 Mall, many designer and fashion shops, less electronics tho. I only got myself some hair gel and toothpaste in Watsons It was also very windy and rainy outside as its getting winter. I didn’t spent too much time there and went back to the metro.

Walking home I saw a night market where I had a look through. Many eating stands less clothing and stuff. It was nice tho anyway. Check out the pictures I’ve taken. I wouldn’t eat all this

This was my 2nd day in Taipei. Stay tuned there is more to come …

From Guangzhou I took a train directly to Hong Kong which took me about 1.5 hours. That was it!

I arrived in Hong Kong and I had to take a taxi. I was so happy when the taxi driver talked to me in english. No more taxi driver spitting out of the window and not being able to speak any english at all. On the other hand it is very expensive compared to china. For my taxi ride during high traffic taking maybe 30 minutes I paid 100HKD!

BUT! The city is clean, people speak english and yeah since 3 months finally a easy and convenient Metro!

Hong Kong is a very busy city, thousands of people EVERYWHERE! I’ve never seen so many people and shopping centers in my life. The fashion is great… electronics are cheap!

To just name a few nice places to go shopping when you are in Hong Kong. There is Mong Kok with Langham Place and Causeway Bay. Mong Kok you have thousands of electronic, computer and mobile shops…. In Hong Kong you get the latest,best and cheapest electronic in the world!

You also find heaps of good fashion and urban cloth shops. Some really cool shops are “I.T.”, “i.t.” (cheaper version for younger people), “Iso”, “Izzue”, “D-Mop” and many many more.

Special thanks goes to my local guide Crystie, she is a very nice girl showing me around Hong Kong. I met her through the Internet, as she was looking for models for editorials. That time I was located in Guangzhou but nevertheless she came with her whole crew to do a editorial with me there. She and myself didn’t know that time we would meet in Hong Kong again. Thanks Crystie for such a great time and the pants you got me, they fit, perfect !She also made for me some really cool pants. The first day we arrived she was that nice to call me if I was bored and where I could go etc etc. In the evening we went shopping and for dinner too. Your such a sweetheart! Thanks also to her boyfriend who did some nice pictures of me and the skyline in Hong Kong!

Thanks also to Julia who I was doing shopping with. We also went to the “Peak” up in the mountain, you can see the whole city! It is the most incredible view over the whole city of Hong Kong, haven’t seen anything like that before!

On friday night then I went out with my mate Ken from Germany who is with Model Management in Hong Kong too. We went to Dragon I a famous club in Hong Kong. It was ok, in the end too crowded and we ended up in a electro club, great music. Drinks for free

I had a great time, too short!!! But I’ll come back for sure!

Well, what can i say, I left china. I’m happy! I definitely have to say I’m happy to leave Guangzhou. I had a few more nice and not so nice photo shoots. Well let me give you one bad example.

What do you think about a client shooting a girl in fake Gucci Underwear doing some weird porn poses and asking me to take my pants of and stand next to her only wanting to shoot my leg?!?!? HELLO?!?!? This was definitely not professional and I don’t want to be the poor little polish girl seeing her photos one day on a pornographic website.

I can’t deal with clients smoking everywhere and you leave the casting or fitting totally stinky. I even had one guy smoking next to me in the hairdresser!

But the worst is people spitting in front of you every 2 minutes, not even Police Officers behaves any better. Walking every 5 minutes and not holding your breath is almost impossible, IT stinks everywhere…….

They don’t have anything like dividing biological waste, plastic, paper or bottles. It goes allin one bin and in the evening people get it all out and divide it by hand. Even when you walk past empty bins, you will have to hold your breath as cleaning is not everyday procedure there.

BUT I’m also sad, why??? I have made many many friends which I will miss very much indeed. To just name a few people, Dean, Mikee, Samy, Craig, Superman, William, Gustavo who left earlier, Cherry the party Queen from my agency and many many more….

Miss ya guys…